How does your Diet affect your Skin?

Test your knowledge about how what you eat can affect the health of your skin.

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If you eat too much sugar, you can get wrinkles

It’s hard to stop the fine lines, wrinkles, and dull tint. The sugar in your blood likes to bind with the proteins that keep your skin firm and smooth.

Sugar from processed foods is the bad stuff. The natural sugars in fruits and vegetables aren’t harmful, and these foods give your skin helpful antioxidants, too.

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You don’t have to drink a lot of water to keep your skin healthy

Your skin needs moisture to look and feel its best. Dry skin ages quicker and is more likely to itch and get red. But most liquids — not just plain water — help keep skin hydrated. Nearly 90% of both orange juice and milk is water.

Drinks with caffeine and alcohol don’t work though. Both can pull moisture out of your body.

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What could trigger an acne breakout?

Answer: white rice. Foods with a lot of simple carbs like white bread, white bagels, corn flakes, cooked spaghetti, and even raisins kick your blood sugar up quickly. That triggers your body to make more insulin, a hormone that pumps up the production of oil, which can clog your pores and lead to pimples.

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When you’re vegetarian or vegan, your skin tends to be more oily or more dry?

Answer: More dry. Essential fatty acids, like omega-3s, are the building blocks of cell membranes. They also help make the skin’s natural oil barrier that keeps skin supple. They’re found in crab and in fish like tuna and salmon. You can get them in plant oils, nuts, and soy, too. But if your diet doesn’t include animal protein, you’ll have lower levels of them.

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To make your skin less oily, eat more cantaloupe and butternut squash

More vitamin A in your blood means less of your skin’s natural oils, known as sebum. Butternut squash, cantaloupe, carrots, green leafy vegetables, mangoes, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes are rich sources of it.

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What can spicy food set off?

Answer: Rosacea. Nearly half of people with this skin condition say it’s a trigger. Other foods can bring on its redness, too, including alcohol, hot drinks, dairy products, and certain fruits and vegetables.

Spicy food can also cause hives if you have an allergic reaction.

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Who is more likely to have a food allergy?

Studies found that about one-third of children with severe eczema, a disease that makes skin itchy, red, and swollen, also had a food allergy. Adults rarely do. Dairy products and eggs often cause reactions when kids are young.

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About 25% of the people who have psoriasis are also sensitive to gluten

Psoriasis — a condition that causes itchy, red, scaly patches on the skin — and celiac disease — an immune reaction to eating a protein found in some grains and processed foods — are both related to inflammation. They may share a genetic link.

But you shouldn’t have to give up foods with gluten unless you’re sure it causes a reaction.